European stock markets opened higher on Wednesday, as investors pored through another slew of earnings along with euro zone economic growth data.
The Stoxx 600 index was up 0.44% at 8:08 a.m. in London after notching a sixth straight positive session on Tuesday, extending its longest winning streak since January. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 meanwhile closed higher for a 12th session, marking its best run since 2017.
The autos sector rose nearly 1% despite earnings weakness after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order softening some of his automotive tariffs. The move maintains a 25% vehicle import rate but reduces the overall level as a result of additional duties on products such as steel and aluminum.
U.S. tariffs have unsurprisingly emerged as a key theme in early corporate results, with many citing the difficulty of forecasting, while bank profits beat estimates. Those trends continued Wednesday, with Swiss lender UBS reporting better-than-expected net profit of $1.692 billion in the first quarter, while auto giant Stellantis suspended its full-year guidance due to uncertainties.
Earnings highlights
- Swiss giant UBS beats expectations with $1.69 billion profit | view post
- Barclays beats on profit and revenue, CEO says braced for economic slowdown | view post
- Volkswagen posts 37% drop in first-quarter profit | view post
- Stellantis suspends full-year guidance due to uncertainties over Trump tariffs | view post
- TotalEnergies reports 18% drop in first-quarter profit on weaker crude prices | view post
A preliminary reading on euro zone first-quarter economic performance is due at 10 a.m. in London. Economists polled by Reuters expect 0.2% growth in the period, following stagnation at the end of 2024.
Speaking to CNBC’s “Europe Early Edition” on Wednesday, Gediminas Šimkus, chair of the Bank of Lithuania and a member of the European Central Bank’s Governing Council, said he backed a quarter percentage point rate cut at the ECB’s next meeting in June and that it is “basically general knowledge” that U.S. tariffs will be disinflationary for the euro area in the short term.
